


Record Summer

by Altlas



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: Gen, sort of origin story, takes place before fallout 4
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-10
Updated: 2016-01-10
Packaged: 2018-05-12 22:59:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5684428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Altlas/pseuds/Altlas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fahrenheit and her company of mercenaries needed work and the caravan had been hiring. In the end all the mystery with their employer and the city of Boston they must pass through offers nothing but death. The caps definitely weren't going to be worth it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Record Summer

**Author's Note:**

> So this was supposed to be a one-shot about how Hancock and Fahrenheit meet up. Looks like it's going to be a two-shot though. Enjoy!

_"I believe that summer is our time, a time for the people."_

_-Lewis Black_

 

“Hey, hey kid, rise and shine. Hello? Anyone in there?”

_She doesn’t seem like the type to be a deep sleeper. Bad habit as a merc._

“We’re nearing dawn. Though it’s hot enough you’d think the sun shined through the night.”

She had already been awake for some time, the heat and sounds of the too still night making sleep unattainable. Silence in the wasteland never bode well for the living considering what could be around the next corner. Her raw instincts never let her rest when things seemed most peaceful.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m on it Mills.”

She opened her eyes blinking rapidly to clear the dust from her vision, the vague shape of the old ghoul in front of her coming into focus.

“You can call me Tom, for the umpteenth time, Fahrenheit.”

Mills was dressed, weapon holstered, his voice still gruff from sleep. _Though he is a ghoul, their voices always sound like shit._ Fahrenheit lazily pushed herself off of the sleeping bag below and dusted off her armor set beside her. She quickly began the process of strapping the rough metal to her body, something she could do with her eyes closed and an arm tied behind her back by now. As she adjusted the tightness of her armor she surveyed the shrinking encampment around her. Most had already packed up and were preparing to hit the road for what felt like the millionth time.

Fahrenheit felt as if she had spent eternity with the caravan though she had only joined with them part way through their journey. The previous hired guns had lost the job and the caps due to death by super mutants. A convenient situation considering she was there at the right time and place for her little company to take over security. Not the ideal job, but they’d been out of work for two weeks and she had given up on being picky. _Caps’re average at best but at least we’ll finish the contract in the Capital Wasteland. Though at this rate I’ll probably be 80 before we reach the shit hole._

Progress to the Capital, the final destination of the caravan, had been slow through the last week for no real reason beyond the heat affecting their Brahmin and the rising paranoia of the boss. Fahrenheit could see him in the distance, checking the various locks on his largest wagon, obviously the prize of all the goods he was hauling. He was constantly grasping for the 10mm pistol at his side and shifting his eyes between the meat heads with guns he had hired. It seemed that every settlement they stopped in, the boss would find a new reason to hire yet another goon. Fahrenheit was supposed to be in charge of the security for the caravan though he seldom listened to her advice. _For instance, trying not to hire every idiot with a gun in the Common Wealth._

Fahrenheit was pulled out of her thoughts when Mills clapped her on the back, speaking into her ear.

“Here comes the boss, when you get the chance come to the back of the pack and we’ll play some more chess.”

With that Mills sauntered over to the Brahmin he had saddled up for the day to lead the rest of his herd. As she watched him go, she watched her employer walk briskly towards her, his jaunt suggesting he had a large stick planted firmly up his ass.

“Fahrenheit, you look well! Did you sleep fine? Any issues with my cargo in the night? One of the latches on the forward wagon looked a little sk-“

Fahrenheit raised a hand to stop his ramblings which quickly came to a halt, his mouth pursed, sweaty face already contorting with stress.

“There were no issues. We all watched the cargo in shifts overnight. Nothing was taken or moved though I’m sure you already know that considering you’ve checked your inventory twice now.”

The boss’s beady eyes blinked rapidly, refocusing on the dirty papers crushed in his palms. He reread them, unconsciously taking a step back from Fahrenheit. It was no secret that he was afraid of the woman, she could likely invoke fear in a death claw if she stared at it long enough.

“Ah yes, you’re, uh, right. Everything is accounted for. For the first leg of today I want you and your second hand man to watch the rear of the forward wagon. The other three you place nearby where you think they’d be most effective. That wagon is your top priority and the key to your merry band of mercs getting paid. Now off we go! Come on!”

He was off and running back towards his precious wagon, hopping into the front seat next to a young woman who was responsible for steering the Brahmin in the right direction. Fahrenheit followed suit and walked towards the back of the wagon, already in motion. Without looking back to the rest of the caravan where she knew her men were screwing around, she brought her hand to her mouth, letting out a sharp whistle. The men quickly jogged up to her position meeting her pace.

“Alright, Bill, Rusty, Janie, I want you all in the same positions as yesterday. If the boss asks why we aren’t mixing things up feed him some shit about the terrain or sight lines, anything, I don’t give a damn. Finn, he wants us here. Now get to it.”

Her men went off to get into position while the remaining man in question, Finn, rolled his eyes and began walking with her, matching the lazy pace of the wagon.

“What does Willy boy think is gonna happen out here? Another bomb gonna drop right on his precious goods? Guy has been slowly losing his shit through this trip.”

“Keep it down, you know the boss doesn’t like being called that.”

Fahrenheit glanced over to Finn, in his same dirty leathers, cigarette hanging precariously from his dry lips.

“Oh of course, I’ll call him ‘his excellency’ or maybe ‘master’.”

Fahrenheit slapped Finn over the head, leading him to dramatically rub the back of his head and shoot her a deadpan glare.

“I don’t care for Danton either but there’s a decent payoff waiting at the end of this job and I’m not risking it because you can’t handle someone else telling you what to do.”

“’ _The forward wagon is your top priority and the key to your merry band of mercs getting paid!’_ believe me, I know. Whatcha think is in that thing anyways? Danton is the only one allowed to check the inventory and no one’s ever seen what’s inside apparently. Janie thinks he’s got some fancy tech in there, she was say’n during her shift last night she heard something moving. Some just think it’s garbage and Danton has just gone crazy.”

Fahrenheit would be lying if she said she wasn’t curious about the wagon. She had seen what was in the other three, just medical supplies, food stores, and valuable scrap. Along with the wagons was Mills’ herd of Brahmin, he had paid the boss, Willy Danton, to tag along for security purposes. Her interest had bene immediately piqued by the fourth and largest wagon which remained under lock and key at all times. Something didn’t settle right in Fahrenheit’s gut the first time she saw it and even now she knew something was off about the cargo. With the amount of security they had, Danton’s nervous habits, and the secrecy, nothing good could come of whatever was inside.

“Well? Doing a lot of thinking and no talking, Fahrenheit. What do you think is in the damn thing?”

She let out a long sigh, throat already dry from the heat of the early morning. _I hate this job. And this heat._ She looked back at the rest of their group seeing that no one was fairing any better. She looked to Mills, worried, he had a fine sheen to his skin, likely sweat, and he already seemed out of it. During the long days on the road Fahrenheit would occasionally hang back to avoid Danton’s unbearable conversation. Eventually she had warmed up to the cattle driver Mills through his attempts at small talk and they were something of friends. He had also occasionally mentioned the mysterious cargo to her, uneasy by the unknown.

“Hell Finn, the only thing I know is that it’s trouble. As soon as we get to the capital we get our caps and we get out. I don’t plan on sticking around to find out what’s inside.

Finn grunted, agreeing. He looked the wagon in front of them over, a hint of annoyance in his eyes. The idiot always hated being kept out of the loop. From there the pair fell into welcomed silence, guns at their chests and eyes on the road.

…….

The rest of the day progressed at a snail’s pace, the entire caravan slowly wading through the thick heat of the day. Fahrenheit had had enough of Finn’s drinking and loogy hocking contests with himself so she headed to the front of the wagon to inform Danton of her change in position. She made it to the front to see him slumped over in his seat, clipboard fanning his face.

“Boss, I’m going to shift positions to the middle of the caravan.”

He suddenly perked up, concern laced through his features.

“What? Why? Is there something I should know?”

“No boss, I just want to get a different perspective and look for any potential vulnerabilities closer to the back of the pack.”

It was all bullshit, she was really just bored and wanted humane company. But Danton nodded appreciatively, suddenly concerned about the rear of their group.

“Yes, excellent thinking, I would hate to be caught by surprise! That’s why you and your men get the big caps, Fahrenheit!”

_‘Big caps’ my ass._ Fahrenheit was already turning to head towards the Brahmin when Danton waved her away. She passed Finn who only rolled his eyes at her as he took another swig of the pungent alcohol he was nursing. She nodded to her men in greeting as she passed them, not one for conversation though Mills had been an exception, a highlight of the job.

“Ah, well look who came to pay the old man a visit. Getting tired of your friend up there?”

Mills looked down at Fahrenheit from his Brahmin a hand on his hip and a small smile on his nonexistent lips.

“Just wanted a change of scenery. How’re things back here?”

Mills had refocused his attention to the path ahead of him but the smile had yet to leave his face.

“Whatever you say kiddo. As you can see, everything is dandy. So you just get to walk next to me in brooding silence or are we gonna play some chess?”

“You gonna pull the board out or do I have to wait until you finally keel over before I can play?”

Mills let out a hoarse bark of laughter, shaking his head at the red head’s crude sense of humor. He produced a worn down black and white square of wood from his pack and Fahrenheit handed him some pieces of junk they had been using as pieces on the board. Mills had lost his in the war and had managed to find a chess board when scavenging years ago. Fahrenheit had never taken an interest in games of any sort, favoring getting high on Jet for entertainment. She found the fact she had only recently taken up chess ironic, considering her father had always fed her some bullshit line about chess and ‘Keeping the game going’ but never taught her how to play the damned game.  

She looked over and saw he had set up the board on the wide back of his Brahmin, somehow managing to balance the board there with his knees. She went first and then him, playing game after game in relative silence aside from the trash talking Mills did whenever he took a pawn of hers off the board. Soon they were approaching their pre-determined camp site, the side of a large hill. The caravan climbed up the side, Fahrenheit helping Mills encourage the Brahmin upwards. When they finally reached the top of the hill, Fahrenheit was greeted with a view of what could only be Boston Commons in the distance. The sun was barely hanging on to the horizon, emphasizing the lights and fires of what was likely settlements and more unsavory groups holed up in the area. She had never seen it before and stood taking in every site when Danton came up behind her.

“Surveying the area? Good! We’ll be heading through the city tomorrow and I won’t lie, it’ll be quite dangerous. Raiders, Gunners, Super Mutants, they’re all constantly at war with each other in that hunk of rubble. We’ve lost too much time and we can’t afford to go around sadly.”

Fahrenheit didn’t take her eyes off the crumbling skyline.

“Don’t worry boss. That’s why you hired us. I’ll take first shift of watch tonight. Go get some rest.”

It seemed as if Danton had something more to say, but decided it best to keep it to himself. He walked over to a smaller wagon, pulling out a sleeping bag and rations. Fahrenheit looked to her left, seeing that Mills had settled into the hillside with a cigarette, not having to worry about his exhausted Brahmin who were content to stay in place. She sat next to the older ghoul, pulling out her own cigarette.

“Pretty isn’t she? Should’ve seen her before the war. Boston was truly a marvel.”

“Did you come here often before the war?”

“From time to time, for business. Family owned a meat distribution company. Business wasn’t so good near the end. Made more and more trips to our Boston branch to keep it afloat. I wonder if the old place still stands.”

They both took long drags of their cigarettes, the heat of the day finally catching up to the both of them.

“Sounds boring. Where’d you learn to play chess so abnormally well?”

Mills let the smoke crawl from his mouth and what remained of his noise, pooling around his weathered face.

“Brother taught me. But don’t worry kid not everyone is as good as me, I’ve just had a few centuries to perfect it.”

Mills pulled out a canteen of water the contents sloshing as he put it in Fahrenheit’s lap. She drank the contents desperately, having already used all her water rations for the day. She handed the canteen back to him, nearly empty. He shook it in his free hand and let out a small laugh.

“This heat has been real brutal. A record summer, I’m sure.”

Fahrenheit laid down to stretch her tired limbs looking to the stars in the hazy sky.

“A record what?”

“Before the war people would keep track of weather and temperatures over the years. Records. This is one of the hotter summers I’ve been in and if we still kept track of that stuff I’m sure this would be one of the hottest we’ve had in a few years. Funny that you don’t do so well in the heat, _Fahrenheit.”_

Fahrenheit stood up, headed to her men to decide on who would keep watch in what order that night.

“Shut up and get some rest Mills.”

 

* * *

 

The night passed with little worry, though some mole rats had wandered into camp and had nearly given some sleeping mercs a run for their money. Fahrenheit had requested that Rusty, the last to keep watch, wake her up early so she could go over weaponry and ammo for what would be a day not everyone would see the end of. She awoke to a milky and deep blue sky, the day just beginning to rear its ugly head. She put her armor back on, wrapped up her sleeping bag, and headed for the back of the supply wagon with Rusty in tow.

“So, what’s the plan Fahrenheit? I don’t plan on dying while attempting to make way through that shit hole.”

Fahrenheit rummaged through the supplies, pulling out a more detailed map of the city, and some sugar bombs for the both of them. She tossed one box to Rusty and ripped open the other for herself.

“Well, luck just so has it that I don’t plan on dying either. I want to go through what ammo we have and distribute all of it amongst ourselves.”

Rusty had opened up the map by this point, looking at the route Danton had laid out for them to take through the city. He had been very thorough about getting through the city quickly while also planning alternate routes. She wondered how long it took him to plan this trip. _Something doesn’t feel right. What’s waiting for us in Boston?_

“After we’ve distributed ammo we’ll take up position at the front and center of the caravan since those are where the boss’s wagons are. The rest of the hired guns can form a perimeter. I’ll send Bill ahead of the group a little ways to sneak through the rubble and look for trouble.”

Rusty looked over the map, gears in his head turning.

“What do we do if we’re overwhelmed?”

“Simple. If the fighting gets to be too much and it looks like we’re all fucked, we take what and who we can and pull out through one of these alternate routes. Memorize the routes best you can. Have the others do the same.”

“Fine. But I’m talking last ditch effort, last resort.”

Fahrenheit sighed, exacerbated. It was the same ‘Plan B’ for every job.

“We take what we can and ditch the caravan.”

Rusty finally seemed satisfied with the answer and strode off to awaken the rest of their company. Fahrenheit stuffed the map back into the wagon and put her portion of ammo in her pack. Once Rusty had awoken the rest of their friends she doled out the remaining supplies they had, knowing that the fighting would be unavoidable and resupplying difficult. She eventually found Dalton who was writing something on that clipboard of his.

“Fahrenheit. I’m assuming you have a plan for today? We will certainly see fighting.”

She relayed the plan she had laid out to her team already, throwing in some useless details to put the man at ease, he was obviously stressing what was soon to come.

“Hm, I see. That sounds satisfactory but I would like to move the forward wagon to the center and put two men on it, their entire job being to just watch that wagon.”

_Shocking, his precious wagon comes first._

“Alright. But not my men, I need them on the fringes of the caravan to fight off whatever may come our way.”

“I want Finn on that wagon. It’s vital to our success, I can’t have anything happening to it! Surely you understand? I’m sure one of these other fine young fighters could be just as useful!”

It wasn’t just a matter of skill, she trusted her company. The others, not so much. They had all been hired in pairs or individually which meant they were all looking out for themselves. She knew that if fighting got bad she could simply do as she pleased, Danton would probably be cowering in one of the wagons.

“Fine. I’m going to put one of those’ fine young fighters’ on reconnaissance. I want to know what’s coming at us.”

Fahrenheit said the last half of the statement almost as a question, a question she knew Danton wouldn’t answer.

“Ah, alright, good. Hopefully there aren’t too uhm, many surprises waiting out there for us!”

Danton scurried off and Fahrenheit rounded up all the mercs he had hired. _Time to pick the lucky soul who gets to play scout today._ They had grouped behind the supplies wagon, getting food and water for what would be another scorching day. She spoke loudly getting their attention, wanting to get things on the road.

“So I’ve just had a chit chat with the boss. Who’s got the balls to go into that death pit feet first?”


End file.
